My spy camera.

We recently watched this french film, in which photos taken with a Minox enabled police to solve the crime!

Available accessories included a tripod or a binocular clamp for telephoto photography. The Minox chain came equipped with beads at 8" - 10" - 12" - 18" as an aid in calculating exposure.

Carve your stamps ~

From the Flickr group of the same name.

Click on the blog-post title to take you there.

Simply must try this.

1. boy, 2. Funky autumn trees., 3. stamp :: koi, 4. Bertie and Mushroom Circular Chunky Page, 5. vos / fox, 6. Flying-into-the-Sunset, 7. Kinderschoentjes, 8. Stamp, Bird with latern, 9. Feather stamp, 10. 30 Crafty Days. Day 2 : cassette tape pin., 11. Castle, 12. Cuppa Hand-Carved Stamp, 13. Manly Mushroom, 14. Swedish horse, 15. stamp cutlery, 16. final

Created with fd's Flickr Toys.

Snow day -

I had to return home & get the 4 wheel drive because I was sliding around. weeeee....

Snow day thrift - must be vigilant.

I also found a gigantic self-healing cutting mat.

Still had the original $38 tag. hehe.

The Book of Furniture & Decoration: Period and Modern -

copyright; 1941

~ Parent's Retreat ~

~ Room for a small boy ~

~ Nursery and Juvenile Furniture ~

House & Garden's Interior Decoration

seventh edition; 1970

Why wasn't I asking for chairs for my birthday when I was eight? I'd be set now.

This flooring was in most suburban kitchens I visited in the 70s.

I don't miss seeing it. A strange choice for this trailblazing kitchen.

Storage kingdom: A trailblazing kitchen is

built around a series of lockers - quite

unlike conventional cabinets - that flank an

island work center. Each locker has its own

combination of U-shaped and straight

shelves and rods, arranged so every inch

of space is used without stacking. Everything

is in front - no reaching for things you can't see.

lavendar / plum / pink & brown.

More McCall's

My favorite.

The wallpaper which simulates whitewashed boards contributes to the airy garden atmosphere. The headboard was contrived from scrolls in a garden gate.

eye-hurting ugly.

Empire in feeling, this columnar lamp with its narrow shade and wreath-and-arrow finial is a classic also available in white, blue and green. The accessories informally arranged on the campaign chests are the casual sort that anyone might have.

The media center.

Built into the wall of a den, this entertainment closet has easily operated bi-fold doors. There is a bar behind the black chair. The exposed brick wall, open-beamed ceiling and natural colors give warmth and unity.

Aside from the time travel aspect of looking at these books, I really love the static nature of the rooms; the frozen, flat look. It's hard to imagine activity here. They would be so much fun to do collage on.

I reiterate what I said yesterday about the free-flowing hyphens. The writer was

out-of-control.

McCall's Decorating Book

Some bright color on a grey & foggy day ~

copyright, 1964.

Lovely greens.

A combination entertainment-dining room. Ten oil paintings of various sizes give a mass of color over the black-green sofa. The wall opposite is lined with books with built-in hi-fi, and television on a turntable so that it can be viewed from the sofa.

Cool stools. Is that mystery fur?

Twin basins, a room-wide mirror with a luminous panel over it, ceramic tile walls, a slat windowshade combined with a floor of Arizona stone provide character here.

More pretty blues & greens...

Tray settings for a TV dinner repeat the blue-and-green room color scheme and give even a simple meal a gourmet flavor.

This author was over-reliant on hyphens, in my humble opinion.

collections

1. Bread bag ties, 2. Knitwit Necklaces (detail), 3. magic mushroom avec JOUJOUILLE, 4. The Glass, 5. Whimsical Field of Poppies WIP, 6. tiny bit of my vintage bead basket collection, 7. Mushroom Collection, 8. orange towel set, 9. Vintage knitting, 10. kunst-haus [HDR], 11. silk & metallic thread collection, 12. Wooden moms, 13. thursday love, 14. vintage lipstick collection, 15. towel hog

Created with fd's Flickr Toys.

& another pair.

size 8-9

Nice green inside (one can never have too much green).

New in my shop.

size 6 - 7

A Goal:

~ to improve my etsy shop photos.

1) Lighting; I'm completely at the mercy of the ambient light. There are times when I cannot get a good result.

2) Backgrounds; I'm not always satisfied with my backgrounds at this point because they're too varied. The overall look of my etsy page may be good one day, not so good on another.

3) Composition; When taking pictures I need to be mindful of the fact that the pictures will be most often seen in thumbnails (square).

Since I make a variety of items which aren't always cohesive; the photos need some thread of consistency for the entire page to look good. This seems like the most difficult task.

I'm going to work on creating some nice, smooth fabric backgrounds.

I'm going to work on improving the quality & amount of light. (how?)

(make a light box? use a mercury halide bulb? use a combination of different bulbs?)

I'm going to continue to try to understand my camera better!

Striking a blow at inefficiency

I'm continuing in my mini-organizational endeavor. Today I'm filing individual slipper patterns in manila pockets in this tin box. The box will be perfect. It comes with a security system (lock & key).

Previously my patterns were all contained in a single folder, scrambled, with indecipherable notes to myself.

The muffin tin sits right on top of the cardboard drawer-file. There's one little drawback with this; it will collect dust. I have an overabundance of dust & fuzz. I live on a gravel road & store mountains of felted sweaters.

One of my great challenges is keeping the fuzz in my packing tape to a minimum.

Work Area needs attention...

I must, if only a bit at a time, work on organizing my vast assortment of stuff.

The Little People photos & card supplies were bursting out of their container, plus the container itself didn't have a place. Sometimes it was on the table, sometimes on the floor...

This sits right on my desk & was being used to hold a bunch of junk I'm not using right now. Soooo;

I moved all business cards, book marks, return address labels, & all Little People photos & card supplies right in.

A nice small organization project. Mini.

I've also been organizing the Little People themselves; which consume a shocking amount of space.

Never underestimate the myriad uses for felted sweaters. I glued a big piece of fairisle to the bottom of this (heavy) file.

Cool old labels - out.

Little People Valentines in my shop.

1.Romance at the Circus

2. Mr. & Mrs. Romance

3. Hugs & Kisses in the Post

4. You Rule.

A beginning.

I'll need better light. I am getting in the mood for Valentine's Day with my Little People!

Winter pearls.

Began a new pair of slippers -

Mystified by what's in the lining of a leather coat.

Wondered what to do with the leftovers.

Doubled the felted wool throughout.

The days have been grey this week.